Caden Herrera met and exceeded all expectations Tuesday night as he cut (first try; no problems) the ribbon officially re-opening Puckerbrush School after a three-year restoration project that included a new cedar shake roof, emptying the building, removing and then replacing the floor in order to repair the building's support structure and finally restoring all of the 1874 building's interior surfaces.
The ribbon-cutting was one of the purposes of our "Peanut Day" open house and quilt expo that drew more than 100 guests plus a dozen or so volunteers to the museum campus. Caden is flanked here by LCHS board members Frank Mitchell (left) and Bill Marner. At far left is Ron Cromer, whose Cromer Construction did the interior finishing work --- and moved everything back in to boot.
Once the ribbon was cut, the remarkably talented musician Margaret Coons entertained guests for about half an hour inside the school
There were plenty of quilts on display throughout the campus, too --- but this was the one that amazed me. The pattern is "Dear Jane," reportedly dating from the Civil War era, and the quilt artist, Nelda Johansen. Each small square is different and there are more than 5,900 individual pieces in the quilt.
Rex Johnson is reading the explainer card here on one of the quilts displayed in Otterbein Church. Members of the Chariton Valley Piece Makers quilting group were our partners in this event and a majority of the quilts on display in Otterbein were their work.
Several quilts from the museum collection were shown in the Perkins Room of the Lewis Building, and these will remain on display through Saturday (we're open 1-4 p.m.; free admission) before returning to the permanent quilt display or to archival storage.
Also on hand Tuesday evening was fabric artist Meg Prange, who creates contemporary works of art by blending her her free-form talents with the traditional fabric scraps and skilled needlework of quilting.
And of course there were peanuts --- prepared in the vintage roaster that came to the museum many years ago from Piper's Grocery on the square. Here, Bob Ulrich checks his watch to see if a roasting cycle is about done.
And Jerry Pierschbacher bags the result.
1 comment:
LOVED the roasted peanuts and LOVED your "campus" of historical structures. The school and log cabin were my favorites. I didn't walk down to the garden, but it looked great from where I stood up on the hill. Somebody has done a great job planting the planters around the place. Thanks for a fun evening in Chariton.
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